


Silhouettes of Heroes

by Selemetis



Category: Archie Comics, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/M, Implied Cheronica, Marauders, Marauders' Era, Werewolf Jughead, betty as sirius and jughead as remus, like why wouldn't they?, okay so this is a riverdale gang!marauders au, still they are marauders, there are many differences ofc but, they all are gonna suffer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-23 12:45:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11402682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selemetis/pseuds/Selemetis
Summary: And that was the very first time they were sitting together in their wagon before the sorting ceremony. Even though Jughead was sorted in Ravenclaw, Betty and Archie in Gryffindor and Veronica, not surprisingly, in Slytherin, the quartet remained friends through their many differences in their school years.orOur Riverdale Gang as the infamous Marauders.





	1. ...That We Want to Be

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! This is my first Riverdale fanfic that I wrote in English and it wasn't edited by my beta, so I hope you like it. It's nothing you don't know, just the same gang in the position of the Marauders.  
> It's not a long story, I just wanted to write down the way I see the gang in Hogwarts combined with the Marauders' history.

They were only eleven years old first time they met. Jughead wearing his beanie he got from his mom on his birthday the year before school, were looking for an empty wagon to settle in and suddenly, he chose the wagon with the red haired boy in it. The boy looked somehow excited yet lonely, the-eleven-year-old Jughead thought. So why wouldn’t he took his chance to make friends? 

He entered the wagon quietly and looked at the ginger. 

“Hi,” he said in a lower voice, “Can I sit here?”

“Sure!” the red haired boy exclaimed cheerfully. After a couple of minutes of settling in, he continued.

“I’m Archie.” he said. “Archie Andrews.”

Jughead looked into the brown eyes before him and slightly smiled.

“Jughead Jones.” he answered and, “...the third.” he added bitterly.

The Archie boy seemed a little confused.

“ _ Jughead? _ ” he asked. “I’ve heard many weird names in my family but this is even better!”

Jughead laughed at his comment genuinely - a laughter that hadn’t been coming from him in a while. After explaining his family names and not liking it bluntly, Archie didn’t seem to mind it and offered him some Chocolate Frog. Accepting the treat willingly, Jughead thought maybe he could have friends at Hogwarts after all, just like Dumbledore promised.

 

A little time after, Jughead was laughing so hard that there were tears of joy in his eyes. He really liked the way Archie told about the school they were attending. It was big, it was shiny and it had foods - _ lots of them, _ Archie promised and Jughead loved the idea. His dad never had told him that before - maybe the appealing was different for both of them but still - who wouldn’t mention a eleven year old boy about the food?

Their wagon’s door slided and Jughead saw a little blonde head popping up. 

“Hello!” the green eyed girl said in a pink dress. Her smile made the boys smile as well as they greeted her. “Can I sit here?” she kindly asked. “My sister is with her friends but I didn’t want to--”

“Come on in!” Archie interrupted her but the girl didn’t seem to mind that. She gratefully accepted the offer and sat down next to Jughead.

“I’m Elizabeth Cooper.” she introduced herself. “But everyone calls me Betty.”

The boys introduced themselves as well and they started to talk about the houses they wanted to be in.

“Both of my parents are Gryffindors.” Archie said proudly. “So am I.”

Betty’s smile cracked a bit as she looked down at her feet.

“What about you, Jughead?” Archie asked. The dark haired boy shrugged as he leaned back to his seat after eating another Chocolate Frog.

“Dad’s a Slytherin, mum’s a Muggle… So i have no idea what the hat is going to think about me.”

“Slytherin?” Archie raised his eyebrows as Betty bit her bottom lip. “My dad says that the Slytherins are a bit--”

“Harsh?” Betty suggested and the boys looked at them. “My whole family is Slytherin.” 

Both of the boys looked at each other and tried to swallow their questions.

“What about your sister?” Jughead couldn’t help himself and asked. Betty raised her eyebrows at his question so he went on. “You said you have a sister, right?”

“Oh, yeah, right.” Betty smiled. Her moody phase was all gone after the mention of her sister. “Polly was sorted into Gryffindor two years ago.” She explained with an excited voice. “Mum and dad gone real mad but they got used to it. So maybe I’ll be sorted in a house other than Slytherin, too.” 

“What’s bad about Slytherin?” a new voice joined them as the door opened once again. The owner of the question was a raven haired girl with a genuine and curious smile on her face.  _ Daring _ , one might say. 

“Nothing!” Betty explained herself in a rush. “Just not my first choice.”

“Well, it is mine.” The girl answered as she sat next to Archie without an invitation. “My parents are both Slytherin and they were the head students of their times.”

“Good for them.” Jughead murmured as he picked up a book from his mailman bag. 

“Veronica Lodge.” The girl said and looked at each of them. “And you guys are..?” 

 

And that was the very first time they were sitting together in their wagon before the sorting ceremony. Even though Jughead was sorted in Ravenclaw, Betty and Archie in Gryffindor and Veronica, not surprisingly, in Slytherin, the quartet remained friends through their many differences in their school years.  

  * **••**



It was only their second year, when they discovered a tiny furry secret about Jughead Jones. He didn’t want to tell them at first but his disappearances were noticeable and if you are a friend of Betty Cooper, you should know better about keeping secrets. 

“Where’s Jughead  _ again _ ?” Betty narrowed her eyes as she scanned the Ravenclaw table. Archie sitting next to her just shrugged.

“He said that her mother’s sick.”

“Well he has a very sick mother.” Betty muttered. “This is exactly what happened two months ago.”

She waved her friend at Slytherin table as she left her spot. “I’m gonna talk to Ronnie about this.” 

Hearing Veronica’s name, Archie also left his spot alongside Betty as she moved to the Slytherin table. 

“Jug’s gone again.” she stated. The raven haired girl sighed as she searched the whole Ravenclaw table.

“Yes, Betty.” she said. “Are you still suspecting the same thing?”

“What thing?” Archie asked. Veronica pulled his arm as the three of them found a more silent corner in the hall.

“Our very own Betty Cooper here,” Veronica started, “has a suspicion about Jughead’s absence.”

Archie glanced at Betty as the blondie crossed her arms at her chest.

“Well… I may have calculated the times of Jughead’s excuses.” she murmured. “And… he is always gone during the full moon.” She lowered her voice in the last phrase. 

“So?” Archie asked and then the idea sinked in. “No! You are not saying he’s -- he’s a…  _ werewolf _ ?

“Hush!” Betty warned him as she looked around to check if someone’s near to eavesdrop. “But yes,” she murmured. “That’s the idea.” 

Archie seemed shocked for a minute but then pulled himself together.

“But what are we gonna do about it? Does the teachers know about this?”

“Dumbledore must.” Veronica murmured. “Somehow he knows everything, right? But Archie’s right, Betty, what are we going to do?”

Betty sighed and thought about the whole messed up situation.

“I’m going to talk to him.” she declared. “So that he won’t be scared of our attempt. And we’ll keep his secret.”

“Of course we will.” Archie joined her. “We are his best friends.”

“Only friends, for that matter.” Veronica corrected him.

 

  * ••



Jughead seemed tired to Betty -- even more tired than the summer. The bags under his stormy blue eyes were wider and he walked as the world was on his shoulders. He was sitting by the lake as he promised to Betty with a book beside him. He didn’t seem to be interested in the book since he was watching the lake with wondering eyes. When Betty sat beside him, he lifted his head and smiled. 

“What’s up with the secrecy, Betts?” he teased. 

Softly smiling, Betty offered him a Chocolate Frog. 

“How’s your mum?” she asked. Jughead swallowed as he opened the tread and nodded. 

“Fine, going back to USA, I guess.” 

Betty wasn’t expecting to hear this. 

“What?” she asked in confusion. “What USA?” 

Jughead shrugged and ate a piece of his chocolate as he disregarded the Dumbledore card in it.

“She’s from there. Said her folks missed her.”

“But--” Betty stopped in the middle of her sentence and studied Jughead. “Juggie,” she said in the softest voice. “Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?” 

Jughead’s expression wasn’t readable. 

“Jug--”

“What do you want to know?” He asked as if he was surrendering. 

“I  _ know it. _ Jughead. The reason why you disappear so often during school days. During the full moon days, to be honest.”

Now the expression was pure fear.

“What do you mean?” he bubbled. “I don’t understand this--” 

Beth sighed as an irritated expression took over her face.

“Just tell me the truth, Jug, please.”

Jughead’s face got darkened a bit before he answered the question.

“I was five and my window was open.” he said. “Dad’s always been a nasty fighter and one of his gang members… he was angry at dad and my window was open because it was summer and… I don’t remember much of that night.” 

Betty covered her mouth as she let out a scared grasp. Jughead wasn’t able to even look at her and poking the soil beneath them with a stick. 

“I am so sorry, Juggy.” she murmured as if she was about to cry. Finally, the boy with the crown shaped beanie lifted his head and tried to smile. 

“I understand if you don’t want to talk to me ever again, Betts, but please don’t--”

“Archie and Veronica know too.” she blurted. “I wasn’t the only one suspecting this but they swore that they won’t tell anyone because you are our friend, Juggie.” 

It wasn’t the first time Betty hugged him nor the last one for that matter but it was the very first time Jughead actually acknowledged the warmth she was so willing to give him, it was the very first time he believed that he is actually loved.    
So he hugged her a little bit tighter.


	2. ...That We Will Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!! thanks for all the kudos guys, i hope you like this chapter as well, it's unedited so forgive me for the misspellings and everthing.

“They literally disowned me.” Betty hissed as she ate the last bit of her ice cream. Jughead and Archie exchanged concerned looks, knowing that Betty would never eat the second sundae in the same hour. “My parents are crazy.”  
“They are parents.” Jughead murmured. “Of course they are crazy.”  
Betty gave him a look as Archie snorted.   
“They say that since Polly has chosen her side, it was my turn so I told them to go to hell all they want.”  
Archie shook his head in approval.   
“It was about to bloody time.”  
“What are you going to about it, though?” Jughead asked in worry.   
“Well, one of our great uncles left me and Polly a good fortune in Gringotts.” She explained. “Since Polly is married, she thinks I should take the money. And she offered me a place to stay for the final year but I don’t know… She and Jason are only married for two months now.”  
Absurdly in silence for minutes, Veronica finally spoke.   
“You should stay with us.” she said determinedly. “Daddy’s out of town for months and mom wouldn’t mind.”  
“Yeah,” Jughead snorted. “From one Slytherin parents to another, sure.”  
Veronica looked at him in an annoyed face.   
“What is your problem with the parental qualities of Slytherin, Forsythe?”  
“I got one.” Jughead answered without a expression of anger as he ignored his first name. “Don’t enjoy it.”  
Veronica sealed her lips before giving an cynical advice about FP Jones. Instead, she gave his friend a fake smile.   
“You can always spend the holidays with us.” Archie said. “We have a spare room anyway and you know about mom… So, what do you say?”   
“I’d recommend my place as well.” said Jughead, feeling like he should be offering it too. “But Dad isn’t a decent host and the trailer park might be a little bit off limits for your standarts.”  
“So? What do you say, B?” Veronica asked. “Whatever’s fine with you.”   
Betty took a deep breath and thought -- Jughead’s place was giving even Jughead the creeps and he mostly avoided spending the holidays with his father. And he was right about Veronica’s place, too.   
“If Mr. Andrews is fine with it, I’d really appreciate the spare room for the rest of the summer, Archie.” she murmured.   
Jughead and Veronica exchanged looks unintentionally but Archie seemed okay.   
“Sure.” he said cheerfully. “Dad always liked you even more than he liked me anyways.”   
As they spent the rest of the day, Archie invited them to the Andrews House for the weekend.  
“So, you know,” he tried to explain. “We can figure the thing out.”  
“Oh, Archiekins,” Veronica laughed at him. “You and your heroic weekend plans.”  
•••  
“You really don’t have to do this.” Jughead objected maybe the tenth time for the day. “It’s illegal and I don’t even talk about the danger in it.”  
“We are willing to take it.” Betty ensured him. “We want to do this, Juggie, also wouldn’t it be fun after the school? We’d all make perfect in our jobs.”  
Jughead sighed as he leaned against Archie’s wardrobe.   
“Even my own mother doesn’t wanna live near me, Betts,” he said bitterly. “I don’t think our society will be any different from that.”  
Betty’s face softened as she wrapped her arm around his.   
“Come on, Jug, where’s your Ravenclaw spirit?”  
“Died along my dad’s food skills.” he murmured but couldn’t resist Betty’s hopeful smiling face and gave up on frowning.  
“That’s better.” She approved and walked to the living room where the fireplace was. Veronica must be there in minutes.   
Archie was getting some butterbeer as the raven haired witch appeared in green flames.   
“From the ashes, Veronica Lodge rises.” the girl greeted herself but her face was telling a totally different story.   
“V, what’s the problem?” Betty asked immediately.  
“Ain’t no thing but a chicken wing, Betts,” she passed off.   
“No.” Archie objected. “You had cried.”  
“Divinity, much, Archiekins?” Veronica asked playfully but accepted the bottle from the ginger.  
“Red eyes, mostly.” Jughead got in the conversation as he sat on a chair backwards. Betty sat next to her best friend on couch and patted her back.  
“What’s going on?” she repeated her question.   
“It’s…” Veronica said in a huffed voice. “It’s daddy.” she said. “You know when I told you he’d be out of town? Yeah, it turned out he was trying to leave the country for escaping the law.” she blurted out. “They say… he was doing business with You-Know-Who.”  
“WHAT?” the tree of the kids yelled in unison.   
Veronica laughed in anger.   
“Yeah.” she continued. “They say… he was about to get the tattoo.”  
“But what does your mom say?” Betty asked and her friend shrugged.  
“She said we shouldn’t talk to anyone about anything at all. Said that daddy will find a way out.”  
“It’ll be hard over Azkaban.” Jughead murmured.   
“Jug!” Archie warned him.  
“He’s right.” Veronica stopped him. “They took him to Azkaban and--and--” She bursted into tears and Archie pulled her to his chest.  
“They took my dad too.” Jughead said in a small voice. He wasn’t looking at any of them, it was almost like the second year all over again. “He, umm, isn’t tattooed but… He was some sorta doing some stuff with Voldemort’s followers.”  
Of all people, Veronica Lodge stood up and hugged her friend. Jughead reacted lazily as he patted her back.  
“Dude,” Archie interrupted them. “Why didn’t you tell us that before?”  
“It happened yesterday.” he said. “I was going to tell you but…” He couldn’t finished his sentence but the other understood him. He was ashamed.   
“Polly said the Blossoms except Jason were all tattooed.” Betty said. “And I for one heard Cheryl talking about it very proudly last year but didn’t payed attention because I thought she was exaggerating.”  
They all stood in silence for a while and finally, Betty spoke again.   
“We should join the others.” she said in enlightenment. “You know… the ones fighting alongside Dumbledore.”  
Jughead narrowed his eyes for a while to comprehend what the blondie is suggesting.   
“We’ll be risking everything.” Veronica said but she didn’t sound like she was refusing it.  
“We don’t have much to lose.” Archie said and looked at Jughead for his answer.   
“I haven’t any other idea for the future anyway.” he smirked.   
It was a fast and maybe a little bit rushed decision for the people at the age of almost seventeen but they knew better: it was now or never.  
•••  
“We did it!” Betty announced in the Great Hall. “Juggie -- last night Archie got to shape shift, too!”   
“What?” Jughead furrowed his brows. “How did you two do that?”  
“We got out late--”  
“Without letting me know?”  
“It was full moon, bro.” Archie said. “But it was the last alone full moon for you!”  
“Yes!” Betty was so hopeful -- again. “Veronica and I already did it but Archie was nearly stuck--”  
“I told you.”  
“Will you please let me finish, Jug?” Betty hissed. “We all can do it now! Aren’t you happy?” Now she was smiling.  
The idea slowly sank in Jughead’s head. He didn’t have to be alone anymore -- he didn’t have to go through this all alone and… His friends were Animagi now.   
“You--” His voice cracked. “You did this… for me.” he said. “I… thank you. Thank you.”  
Betty’s smile widened as she hugged him, knowing he’d never do that in front of the school but she didn’t care. Jughead didn’t mind the hug however, in fact, he returned it willingly.   
“I gotta go to the Quidditch training.” Archie said with a wild smile. “See you at night, Jug.”  
“Yeah,” Jughead laughed with joy as he watched him leave. They were both looking after Archie when Jughead spoke.  
“Hey, Betts,” he said. She looked him all wide green eyes and smiled.  
“Yes, Jug?”  
“Do you… uh, do you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?”  
“Sure.” Betty said without hesitation. “I’ll let the others know.”  
“No!” Jughead refused hastily and calmed himself down. “I mean… Archie is gonna ask Ronnie out. You know… like… a date.”  
“Oh,” Betty said. “Finally he got the nerve, huh?”  
“That’s one way to put it.” he laughed and got serious in a second again. He adjusted his beanie and cleared his throat. “So… what do you say?”  
Betty’s well known happy smile got widened if it was even possible as she nodded.  
“Like a date?”  
Jughead swallowed and nodded as if he was her reflection. “I mean… if that’s okay with you.”  
Betty put one hand on his cheek and tilted her head.   
“Of course it’s okay, Juggie. Saturday, after the breakfast?”  
“Sounds good.” he said with butterflies in his stomach.   
“Sounds good.” she repeated. Then she seemed as if she was thinking about something else.  
“A map.” she blurted out. “We are going to need a map.”  
“Waov,” Jughead chuckled. “You were thinking about a map when I asked you out?”  
“No-- I mean, yes.” Betty confessed with a guilty smile on her face. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t think about that, too. See you, Juggie!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!! kudos and comments are always appreciated!!


	3. ...That We Could Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there! so this is the final chapter, i hope you all like it! and i hope i'll write some better bughead fics in future. kudos and comments are always appreciated, thanks in advance!

No one would ever suspect Betty Cooper. No one could’ve thought that she could be an imposter, a traitor, a Death Eater. Some said she played her part very good, some said there should be a mistake. But anyone who met Betty at least once in their miserable lives were surprised as hell when they had read the _Daily Prophet_ dated 1st November 1981.

Jughead’s knees weren’t able to keep him up in his very Muggle-like apartment. He sat in the middle of his living room, the newspaper in his hands and took sharp breaths as the tears fell from his eyes. He wasn’t aware of his tears, he was numb and he was lifeless. The words didn’t make a single damn sense to him, it must be some kind of a sick joke. He took a look at the newspaper again.

_“Elizabeth Cooper, a known warrior against You-Know-Who, turned to be one of his most loyal followers. Cooper killed Chuck Clayton, a national hero and friend of the Andrews family in cold blood and slaughtered Muggles in the particular street.”  
“Charles Clayton, at the age of 21, died alongside the Andrews whilst trying to avenge their death.”_

In one single night, Jughead lost everything he held dear. Archie, Veronica, their son and… Betty. Even though he didn’t want to admit, he lost her, too. He wasn’t believing that whole bullshit the people say about her. Her being a traitor. Her being a mass murderer. Her being a mad woman. Everything was wrong about this. She was the one who suggested to fight against this evil in the first place. She was the one turned into an Animagus to protect him. She was his first love, first kiss… first person he ever trusted. He wanted to yell and scream and swear that she was innocent.   
But if he’d try to speak, he’d be the only person who actually believed him.

He tried to set a meeting with Dumbledore, with the rest of the Order and hell, even with the Minister of Magic himself. Everyone turned him down, everyone told him to stay away. Even Dumbledore said that he should accept this evil act of his old friend and establish a proper life for himself. Everything was wrong about this.

Jughead was there -- the moment the Aurors took Betty. He saw the darkness taking over her. She was laughing, it wasn’t the kind of laugh he used to hear. In her home, in his place, in their bed… It wasn’t the laughter which made Jughead fell for Betty over and over again every time. It was raw and wild and dangerous and… insane.  
He tossed his beanie away with the images of Betty growing cruelly second by second before his eyes. He knew Betty saw him before the Aurors took her away. He saw the confusing look in her eyes -- like she didn’t know what the hell was happening. Nothing in his entire life ever crushed Jughead Jones like that. And damn, he was a werewolf.   
He spent his days, weeks and months trying to find an explanation. Trying to set Betty free from that awful place. That so called prison Azkaban which was a living and breathing grave.   
He cut his father off after a while. Didn’t want to be part of his nonsense anymore. He kept worked for the drive-in he used to work when he was a kid and sometimes did some business for the magical folk. He felt like he wasn’t belong to any place. Muggles were Muggles and wizards and witches… relatively normal. He didn’t set the balance once Betty created for him ever again. Because he knew, he knew that first time he lost his family, he was 12 and almost ten years after that, there he was, all alone and without the family he cherished so much.

Knowing that Archie and Veronica were dead was something else. He never went to the graveyard, he never visited Polly or gave his condolences to the kins. He was out of the picture like the rest of them. Like even Chuck Clayton who fought their side during the war.   
He lost his youth and the will to live the day Betty went all dark no stars.

That’s how he lived after that.  
All dark, no stars.

•••  
It’s been twelve years since the tragedy. Twelve awful years with many alone full moons and breaking bones… It was sort of soothing now, the loneliness Jughead Jones created for only himself. He was working sometimes -- sometimes wasn’t. Drinking coffee, reading Muggle novels and writing critiques about them to Muggle magazines… Jughead Jones was okay without the magical drama but he was still reading the Daily Prophet.  
It was the 6th of August in 1993, when the newspaper had the power to break him apart.

**_COOPER STILL AT LARGE_ **

Like twelve years ago, but now more mature, Jughead sat the nearest chair with a mug of black coffee in his hands and looked at the news blankly. Betty was out of that place.

Betty was free.

But why now? Why after everything said and done? Jughead wanted to talk about this with someone but everyone he loved and cared was either dead or an ocean away.

Betty was here.

She was a traitor, she was a murderer, Jughead should know better. Maybe he should be the one track her down and send her back where she escaped in the first place but that somehow seemed wrong. After over a decade, everything was wrong about this.   
Jughead stood up and did something he hadn’t done for ages: he looked into his school year photographs. Him, Betty, Archie and Veronica laughing under the snow… Betty and Jughead dancing in a Christmas party… Archie and Veronica on their wedding day, smiling and waving… The Order of the Phoenix gathering, the quartet and the others -- Ethel, Reggie, Valerie, Trev, Josie, Chuck, Dumbledore, Polly and Jason…   
Most of them were dead now, Jughead remembered in a wave of pain that hadn’t washed him for years.   
He sent the album to its old place and saw the owl on his window. He reached for the letter and gave the tabby owl the last part of his biscuit. It was from Dumbledore himself, calling him for a help for the dark times ahead of them, wanting him to help their future, their only chance… And, not needing the untold words, Jughead knew it was to protect him once more.   
Dumbledore was protecting him from Betty Cooper.  
•••  
Hogwarts was just as he remembered -- big, mighty and old yet felt like home. Jughead missed the times he spent in the Ravenclaw Tower and tried to remember only the ones where he was alone.   
“This castle owes me reasons.” he muttered under his breath as he entered the Great Hall, this time with the proffessors.  
He loved to see McGonagall and Flitwick again. Hagrid was still Hagrid and… then there she was. Cheryl Blossom, as the Potions teacher, sitting right next to him.  
“Nice to see you, Blossom.” he murmured.  
“Shut up, you hobo.” she shushed him. “We weren’t friends before, we don’t need to do that now.”

So, yes, Hogwarts was exactly the same. Even Archie’s son was just like his parents. He was inherited his father’s hair and her mother’s attitude and Jughead couldn’t help his smile on his scarred face -- that was a deadly combination. He was in Gryffindor, that part didn’t shocked him really. The boy was an Andrews boy, of course he was in Gryffindor.

Jughead was still carrying the map with him when he saw the unthinkable.   
Charles Clayton, the map showed him in the Shrieking Shack. Alongside the kids and… Elizabeth Cooper.  
“That is not possible.” Jughead murmured himself and without warning anyone, he went straight to the Shack.   
He thought all the way to the Shack. How would be that possible? Betty was the Keeper, he knew she was. Chuck was Veronica’s friend from the same house and same year of Hogwarts and he was a teenager fighting for the good. He didn’t mean any harm to anyone but Betty’s family was famous amongst the wizards so Betty had chosen to be the Keeper… But Chuck…   
Of course. Of fucking course.

No one would ever accuse him for anything like that. He was in front of the Shack now and he realized.  
They had changed the Keeper without telling Jughead all those years ago and Betty paid the price. They all paid the price.

What choice would a bunch of young people have when their lives were at the stake? They’d keep secrets from each other.

Jughead entered the Shrieking Shack -- once was his secret keeper and walked the dark halls of it in nostalgia and fear. Fear of what he might found, fear of losing Betty once again and for good this time.   
He had forgiven her, of course he did. Have you met Betty?

“Expelliarmus!” he yelled at the kids and looked at the blonde woman on the floor. She had been the most beautiful girl he ever met once and all the damage the years had done on her, she still was. Even in the dirtiest clothes on her, even with a little madness in her eyes, she was Betty Cooper, the love of Jughead’s life.  
“Hey, Betts.” he murmured as he reached the woman. She looked at him as if she didn’t recognize the man in front him for a split second, then smiled widely.  
“Juggie.” she whispered.   
“Finally,” he mocked bitterly, “the madness in you came out.”  
“Oh, Juggie, I’m all about the beast within, this is what made you so fond of me, remember?”  
His face gotten serious as he helped her got up.  
“What do you want to do, Betty?” he asked softly.  
“I’m here for the murder I was sentenced. Chuck is here, Juggie.” she hissed darkly.   
“Okay,” said Jughead in the same darkness. “But the boy needs to know, Betty,”  
“He can understand the necessity later.” as she pointed a wand towards the rat in the boy’s hands. “He ratted us out to his beloved master and look what he had done to us.”  
“Wait--”  
“I DID MY WAITING!” she yelled at him. “TWELVE YEARS OF IT!” she was pushing him by using her hands. “IN AZKABAN!” Her voice cracked in the last part as the tears rushed in her eyes to fall.   
“I know.” he said in the softest voice. “We’ll do it together.”  
“NO!” the boy’s friend yelled at Jughead. “I trusted you! I kept your secret!”   
Jughead and Betty exchanged looks as he took a step towards the young girl.  
“What do you know?” he asked. But before he could hear the girl’s answer, another voice echoed in the stiff air as his wand fell from his hand.  
“I always wanted be the one to catch you.” Cheryl hissed at Betty and pointed her wand to the blonde’s throat. “How could you do that, Cooper?”  
“Once again, Cheryl Bombshell, you came into the wrong conclusion.” Betty answered. “You learned nothing from the history, did you?”  
“Don’t. Lecture. Me. About. The things. You. Don’t. Know.” the ginger said as Jughead took a step to her.   
“Cheryl, you don’t know the whole story--”  
“Oh spare me your ridiculous speeches now, Jones!” Cheryl yelled. “This witch caused the death of everyone you loved and cared and you still defend her! What is Dumbledore going to say about that?”  
“Believe me when I say he is far more reasonable than you, Cheryl. And he gave me a job here.”

Months after their reunion, sitting the Cooper Mansion with Betty, he caressed ever lock of her hair gently and left kisses on every spot of her. They were laying in Betty’s old but repaired bed together, she was sitting between his legs and her had was on her chest. He was resting his cheek on her now all cleaned blonde hair. It was the most peaceful moment he had in almost fifteen years.   
“I love you, Betty Cooper,” he whispered in her ear.  
He couldn’t see but he knew she was smiling.  
“Jughead Jones,” she murmured lazily but happy. “I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading this story, hope to see you all in other bughead fanfics! pls kudos & comment ❤️

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


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